The group followed Jake toward the middle of the room, after a long series of tests that took them all around.
They had gone through anything imaginable, up to a written test. An addition that would help determine how good one is at tactics, logical thinking and decision making.
The middle of the room, however, was an open floor with markings on the ground tracing a wide circle.
Everyone stood around the circle, while Jake was in the middle of it, his voice echoing off the thin stone walls raised them.
"This is the last test. Raw power is good, but how well are you able to use it in a combat situation? Some of you might have less firepower, while having a better combat sense than others."
He raised his hand, signaling the officials to join him in the middle.
"Everyone here will face one of us, do your best."
Jake then left the circle, leaving one official in while looking at the pad he held.
He called the first name on the list, a girl who wore common clothes, yet had a wand in her hand.
She reluctantly approached, each of her steps slowly dragged toward the circle.
The wand she held shook with her hand while she bit her lips, right on the edge of the circle.
The official in the middle smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."
She stepped over the line and faced her opponent.
Alexander stood on the side opposite to the officials, concentrated on the fight before them.
What was even the point?
"What is it?" asked Silver.
Alexander realized he was frowning and quickly relaxed his expression.
"It's a waste of time," he said, as the fight started.
"Why?"
"Fighting another dungeon runner instead of monsters? I've faced goblins in my inner path, and it was nothing like fighting another dungeon runner."
Alexander's expression then hardened.
"Not just fighting them. Killing them. That's the test we should be going through, right now."
"Goblins?!"
Alexander turned to silver.
"Yeah. What was in your inner path?" asked Alexander.
"Slimes! Goblins aren't F-tier monsters, they're E-tier… A lot harder than what someone should be facing on their first floor."
The goblins were quite hard to deal with, as he recalled. Without a weapon and barely any idea of how his powers worked, he got lucky.
He had played video games before, and goblins were often the first monsters one would encounter.
He recalled that one game, he'd be a knight while his father was an elemental mage. Goblins were their catalyst to the whole campaign.
Good old days.
"What's considered F-tier?" asked Alexander.
"Slimes, small beast variants the size of rabbits, small imps…"
The girl in the circle was nearing the end of her fight.
She had thrown a few spells, yet most of them landed next to the official. One of them would've hit the crowd around the circle, if it wasn't for an energy barrier quickly rising from the ground as the spell reached the marked limit.
The official had easily been able to approach the mage, who kept stepping backward, while throwing more spells around with no concerns of where they would land.
She eventually walked herself out of the circle, while the official remained there and glanced at Jake who shook his head while noting her score in the notepad.
One after the other, people were called in the circle to face an official, most of them displaying pathetic results.
Plumbers, salarymen, bus drivers… They all had an ordinary life, and suddenly awakened an archetype. It was clear most of them had no combat experience, and it showed through their performance.
Eventually his turn, Silver reluctantly dragged himself in the circle for a display even less predictable than the others. The moment the fight started, he walked off the circle.
Yet, Alexander could see how impressed Jake was.
"Man, this must've looked quite pathetic," said Silver as he rejoined Alexander.
"I think it was quite the opposite. You quickly realized you couldn't win, and went for the escape, compared to the others who remained in harm's way until they had no choice but to leave. I'd say you did well, actually," replied Alexander.
"Really? So the goal isn't to fight them, but to escape?"
"I think you're supposed to assess your chances first… but since you're a support archetype, the smartest thing you could've done is leave right away. In a real situation, it's hard to believe you'd stay around to fight anything one on one."
Jake then looked up from his pad, with a grin on his face.
"Alright, and now, it'll be Veil. As an opponent, I'll go in myself."
Jake handed his pad to another official, while walking into the circle himself.
"So, you'll just tap out, right?" asked Silver.
"Yeah. I won't be wasting my time," said Alexander as he stepped in with Fae.
They both stood near the edge, Alexander's hand gently resting against Fae's back, whose gaze hadn't left his. There was no fear in her eyes, only waiting.
"If you're thinking of leaving the circle right away, just know I will fail you on the spot."
The chatter around the circle became quiet. Alexander already garnered a fair amount of attention from his outstanding outfit, people whispered about him from the moment he arrived at the guild.
He could hear the whispers, what they called him.
"Cultist…"
He glanced back, Silver was smiling while holding a thumbs up and nodding.
Sighing, Alexander turned to Jake once more.
"Am I supposed to throw some spells around, before leaving the circle?" asked Alexander with an annoyed tone.
"They have no experience in combat, but you have, don't you? You easily defeated C-rank squads earlier today, didn't you, cultist?"
Murmurs rose once again through the crowd, both with wonder and fright.
He could feel their uneasy gazes on him and Fae, even the officials had that 'look' on their face.
He wasn't a dungeon runner. He wasn't just another man.
He was a cultist, a threat.
So this is what this test is really about.